My father passed away recently, and I've inherited his 1997 Blazer, which is in great shape except for the left rear hatch strut (the one for the hatch itself, not the glass). The upper ball stud has torn out of the bracket. I've taken it to two dealers and two body shops, none of which is willing to repair it. They claim any repair will not be a strong as the original, and they're concerned the repair will fail and bash someone on the head. So far the only solution I have heard is from the parts guy at the dealer. He suggested I buy a lower ball stud, which is threaded like a bolt, and drill and tap the hatch where the original stud pulled out. However, he too warned that this would not be as strong as the original.

There must be someone out there that has encountered this problem. The original mount is piece of 1/8" metal plate about 4" square, bent in half to form a 90 degree angle. The stud was in a hole in the bracket, and the end was mushroomed like a rivet to keep it in place. The bracket is spot welded to the hatch in 4 places. The stud pulled through the bracket. If there was a replacement bracket available, it could be welded or bolted in place, but the the GM parts guys said there is not such part. Help!

 

In the years that I have been working on and around these trucks, I have never seen this... But being the engineer that I am, I will say that if you have been told that it will not be as strong as what was originally there, they are not repairing it properly.

Since I cannot recollect how this arrangement is, could you snap some pictures of the area in question. It has been quite awhile since I sold my Bravada.

 

I have a 95(different hatch setup) and a 97(same hatch as yours) but my wife has the 97 at school with her right now so I can't go look at the setup. But I believe my suggestion would be to get one of the lower screw in studs and thread it into the upper bracket then spot weld the back side of the stud to the bracket so it can't pull out.